by Tony Bertot
“It’s a trap. They want us to concentrate on the front door. When I signal you, fire at the front door,” Emilio whispered to Frank.
Raising his finger to be quiet, he headed toward one of the back rooms. Now in position, he signaled Frank. Frank opened fire at the window alongside the front door shattering it to pieces. The person there moved to the other side but did not return fire.
Just then Emilio spotted someone coming through a back window and opened fire, sending the intruder backwards through the window.
“I got one,” Emilio turned and shouted out to Frank in a low voice.
When Emilio turned back towards the window, he found himself staring at a man dressed in black with the end of two silencers staring at him. It was too late for Emilio to act as one bullet ripped through one eye socket and the other hit his chest. He stumbled backward into the hallway towards Frank. Frank saw Emilio’s deadly approach, when from the corner of his eye he spotted a lone figure entering the house. He turned and randomly fired three shots before a bullet splattered the side of his head against a nearby wall.
“Nick, Nick you ok?” Theo shouted out to him.
“Yeah, I’m ok. Let’s get the hell out of here,” he shouted up to Theo.
Theo stepped over Emilio and headed downstairs where he found Nick leaning up against the entrance door.
“Crap Nick. You’ve been hit,” Theo said as he reached for him and half carried him out the door. A couple of minutes later they were in the car headed south.
“I got to get you to a hospital,” Theo said.
“It aint that bad. The bastard was a good shot. Got me twice!” Nick said, followed by,
“Hey, aren’t we the good guys? We aren’t supposed to get shot.”
“Hate to tell you. We’re the bad guys, too,” Theo said as he sped down the highway looking for a medical facility.
Spotting a sign indicating a hospital down the road Theo gunned the car. Seeing the emergency entrance he pulled the car right to the front door.
“Someone help me. This man’s been shot,” Theo shouted as he ran around Nick’s side of the car and yanked open the door.
Medical people rushed out placing Nick on a gurney as a policeman held Theo back.
“What happened?” the officer asked Theo.
“We were sitting at the park and all of a sudden some guys drove by and started shooting at us. For no damn reason,” Theo shouted at him almost insanely.
“Why? Why would someone do that?” Theo screamed.
“I got to go be with my friend,” Theo said to him as he broke away from the officer and rushed into the hospital. Seeing Theo’s concern for his friend the officer didn’t give it a second thought Theo’s story may be untrue. The officer followed Theo inside and immediately went to a nearby phone and called the precinct for backup.
“Sergeant, we got a guy here injured in a drive by. Yeah, the guy who brought him in is up there. I’m going to question him as soon as I get off the phone. Ok, thanks Sergeant,” the officer said hanging up.
The officer proceeded to the third floor where the emergency cases were treated.
“Where’s the guy who brought in the shooting victim?” the officer asked the head nurse.
“What guy?” asked the nurse.
“The guy who came in with the patient,” the officer repeated.
“Officer there was no one with the patient, at least no one I saw,” the nurse said.
With that the Officer walked quickly to the waiting room. Finding it empty he rushed toward the operating room while scanning the rooms he passed. Finally he rushed back downstairs to find the car the men had arrived in gone.
“Damn!” the officer shouted to himself.
Suddenly, the officer heard sirens heading his way. It sounded like July 4th. As he stared down the block, he could not believe his eyes as more than seven police cars converged upon the hospital. With his captain in the lead, they raced towards him.
“Where is he?” shouted the Captain.
“Who?” responded the Officer.
“The guy who brought in his friend, that’s who!” the Captain almost screamed.
“I don’t know. He was just here and I came out looking for him when you guys showed up,” the officer said.
The Captain turned to the men.
“Fan out, he couldn’t have gotten far. Officer, give these men a description of what this guy looked like. Now!” the Captain said.
“What’s going on?’ the Officer asked.
“We think the two guys who showed up here might be involved with a mob hit that occurred less than twenty minutes away,” the Captain explained.
“What, holy crap,” the Officer said.
“Where’s the guy who was shot?” the Captain asked as more police cars pulled up.
“He’s upstairs in the operating room,” the Officer responded.
“Get some men up there right away and put two guards on him. No one is to see him without first seeing me,” the Captain ordered.
Two hours later, they wheeled Nick into a private room. The doctor reported he had lost a lot of blood and he might not make it through the night.
“Can we talk to him?” one of the detectives asked the doctor.
“Not right now. You’ll have to wait until he regains consciousness. Probably in the early morning,” the doctor told them.
At around 3:00 am a lone figure scaled the wall of the hospital stopping at the window where Nick fought for his life. Cautiously, Theo opened the window and entered the room.
“Nick. Nick can you hear me?” Theo whispered.
“No, I can’t,” Nick responded smiling weakly with eyes still closed.
“You feel like getting out of here right now?” Theo asked him.
“No, not now, I need some rest. Come back tonight,” Nick told him groggily.
Theo stared down at his friend and nodded.
“You asshole, always got to make things difficult,” Theo whispered.
“Theo, you watch your back,” Nick told him.
“Ok, see you later,” he whispered and disappeared the way he came.
When the sun rose over the horizon Theo watched Nick’s room though a snipers scope a safe distance away.
The room was a flurry of people going in and out.
Then Theo saw the back of a doctor bending over Nick, he appeared to be examining him with a stethoscope. He could see him straighten up and nod his head to the others in the room as he reached down and pulled the sheet over Nick’s face.
“Nick,” Theo thought to himself as tears blurred the scene before him.
Theo was not one to mourn, life had made him this way; so with a new found destiny he sprang into action. He returned to Chicago, extracted the money they had left there and left the hotel that very same night without checking out.
Fazio could not believe the evening news reporting the massacre at the Chicago building. Hearing about the elimination of the Sabrisio brothers was the icing on the cake.
He made arrangements with Fazio Giordano and under cover of night made several visits to Fazio’s location without his knowledge, making it a point to know everything about him and his crime family. Theo had verbally agreed to make himself available to the Giordano family for the right price.
Theo visited Ray Messina several times and together they created several identities. He deposited the money using his different identities in several banks. Through Ray Messina, he contacted an old friend living in San Francisco and settled there under an assumed name.
Though he ached to see Sylvia, he made up his mind it would be in her and Tyler’s best interest to stay away. He took over the payments to Joe Bolano and Theodore Enzinola to watch over Sylvia and Tyler with a stern warning that they would be held responsible if anything happened to them.
Over the next few years, Theo Gresco, under different identities, learned the traits of an assassin. His reputation grew as someone to both fear and respect as his ability and ingenui
ty in completing his assignments became folklore of the underworld.
The End
Follow the life of the Assassin in the sequel,
The Heart of an Assassin